US senator asks tax authority to strip Muslim civil rights organisation of nonprofit status

US Senator Tom Cotton has called on the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the nonprofit status of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In a letter, Cotton accused the Muslim civil rights organization of having deep ties to terrorist groups, alleging it was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestine Committee and supported Hamas. CAIR denounced the accusations as “debunked conspiracy theories” and an un-American political stunt. The organization stated the move was motivated by a desire to protect the Israeli government from criticism.